Revealed Righteousness

Paul told the Roman church that he was not ashamed of the gospel. He had reason to be. It hadn’t exactly been a good thing for him. He had been stoned for it in Lystra and chased out of town in Ephesus. The Jews wanted him dead, and the Gentiles didn’t like him much either. His message was a stumbling block and an outrage. So it’s quite a statement to say he’s not ashamed. He says why he’s not ashamed. “It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). He’s not ashamed because the gospel is predicated on God’s power to save. Notice that. We don’t save ourselves. We don’t maintain it. He does it. It’s His power. He asks the Galatians, “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3). That is, salvation begins and ends with God. That is why he’s not ashamed of the gospel. So the gospel is not just where God’s power shows up. It is also where God’s righteousness is uncovered.

Paul goes on from there, though, explaining how the gospel reveals God’s righteousness. He says something about how the gospel is the power of God for salvation. “For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:17). That’s interesting. The gospel “reveals” the righteousness of God. That “revealed” is apokaluptō ... yes, the same term we have turned into “the apocalypse.” The same word that is the title of the last book of the Bible ... “Revelation.” An uncovering of a truth. Isn’t it interesting that Paul believes that God’s righteousness needs to be “revealed” rather than simply assumed? That’s because sinful humanity does not assume it. So we need proof. Paul says the gospel uncovers that for us.

But ... what is “righteousness”? It’s one of those words we all know but glaze over. What is “righteousness”? Yes, sure, it’s “moral perfection.” But what does the word refer to? It refers to that which correlates to what is right. That assumes that there is something “right” ... that there is absolute right and wrong. It refers to justice, the connection of righting wrongs and setting things in their correct condition. I wrote recently about how God always does what is good. This is about how He always does what is right.

Paul goes on to say that God’s righteousness is first revealed in His righteous wrath (Rom. 1:18-19). Now that’s certainly a place we don’t typically think of as “righteousness.” It is. He is right to be angry at sin. And His wrath at sin makes the gospel truly good news because what we deserve is not grace or mercy; it’s wrath. Something to think about. God’s wrath is not a contradiction of His righteousness; it is an expression of it. And that is what makes the gospel such good news: we are rescued not from some vague danger, but from the righteous judgment we actually deserve.